Author's Note: I've been writing a lot of song-fics lately, which is kind of random. I listen to the radio in the car, and a song will catch my ear, and I'll think, "Oh, I can see Cyclonis/Dark Ace/Starling/etc thinking this. This would be a fun song-fic!" And, it just kind of comes out.
This one is set about a week after the Dark Ace betrayed the original Storm Hawks. I was thinking, yeah, he's evil, but he might retain just a tad bit of that childhood innocence he had as a Sky Knight. Also, I thought the song fit what might be going through his head. Plus, it's an awesome song!
I don't own the Storm Hawks. "Gives You Hell" is by the All-American Rejects.
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I wake up every evening
With a big smile on my face
And it never feels out of place
The Dark Ace stretched luxuriously in his grand new bed in his grand new room on Cyclonia. Sure, he might be a traitor, but he was a traitor with style now. The opulence of his new surroundings never failed to make him smirk.
There was no cramped quarters, or waiting for the one shower, or 6:00 AM chores. Here on Cyclonia, he could sleep in, he could do whatever he wanted, and he had a maid to clean his room.
Score one for Dark Ace, zero for Atmos.
And you're still probably working
At a nine to five pace
I wonder how bad that tastes
All their talk about honor and duty back at the Sky Knight Academy, and where were all those hypocrites now? Slaving away, trying to stop Cyclonia, when really, it probably wouldn't be as bad as the corrupt thing they called "democracy" which ruled the Atmos.
He was free from their stupid politics. He was free to do what he wanted. He was finally being given the respect he deserved for all his talent and hard work, and it wasn't from the Atmos. They had been too late, and they had lost their best fighter. Take that, stupid world. You didn't know how much you needed him, and now you've lost him. Taste the defeat, the bitterness.
When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
He was their hell now, their nightmare. People screamed and ran from his blazing sword. They didn't know what they were losing when they treated him second-class, made him a mere copilot, and now, he had sent them to hell.
Now where's you picket fence love
And where's that shiny car
And did it ever get you far
The Condor wouldn't be getting them far anymore, not while it smoldered in the Wastelands. It wasn't like they'd ever us it, though. They were gone, he had seen to that.
You never seemed so tense love
I've never seen you fall so hard
Do you know where you are
He'd always remember the look on Lightening Strike's face as he had stabbed him with his own sword. That was the look of defeat. That was the look of betrayal. That was the look of his victory.
And the truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I'm lying
Deep down, he wondered if he regretted what he did. Deep down, he knew he'd miss the clear skies and clean Terras that covered the rest of the Atmos. Deep down, he knew no honest citizen would ever trust him again, or look at him with respect again. Deep down, he knew he'd never call anyone "Friend" again.
When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
He lived in hell now. It was a good hell, a fancy hell, but it was hell all the same. No surroundings can allow you to escape your conscience. So instead, he took out all his anger on the Sky Knights he battled. "Why didn't you treasure me?" he thought. "Why did you force me to go to such extremes?" It's easier to push the blame onto others, so he gives them hell.
If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well
Then he's a fool you're just as well
Hope it gives you hell
They would find a new hero, a new Sky Knight. A new naïve fool who thought that goodness and honor and virtues would protect him.
The Dark Ace would take him down.
Tomorrow you'll be thinking to yourself
Where'd it all go wrong?
But the list goes on and on
He hadn't been respected for all his skills. He had been misused. He had been underestimated, undervalued.
The Dark Ace pictured the old Sky Knight Council scratching their balding heads as they discussed him. The list went on and on…
The truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I'm lying
He missed being the hero. He missed the camaraderie of being a Storm Hawk. He was lying to himself when he said he had no regrets, but there was no turning back now. He had crossed the point of no return, so he might as well enjoy it.
When you see my face hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
He would give Atmos hell. He would conquer Terras in the name of his new Master. He would shoot down innocents, destroy their property, plunder their cities. He would spread the hell in his heart and mind to the whole world.
If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well
Then he's a fool, you're just as well
Hope it gives you hell
He would take down any fool of a Sky Knight that tried to get in his way, relishing all the hopes he killed along with the new hero. He was giving Atmos hell.
Now you'll never see
What you've done to me
You can take back your memories
They're no good to me
Why? Why hadn't they treated him better? In a moment of weakness, he hung his head in his arms, not crying, but gritting his teeth, wishing for tears to come. They had made him a monster, a creature of rage, a murderer.
Memories of kindness, of humanity, of Storm Hawks flashed through his mind. He forced himself to forget them.
He wasn't Ace, the Storm Hawk anymore. He was the Dark Ace, champion of Cyclonia, nightmare of Atmos.
And here's all your lies
You can look me in the eyes
With the sad, sad look
That you wear so well
They were the stupid ones, fighting for ideals and rights that they didn't even have. They were the stupid ones, fighting themselves to deny feelings of hate, and anger, that were just and real and just as true as the weaker emotions.
When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
He would give them hell for what they'd done to him, for what they'd failed to do.
If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well
Then he's a fool you're just as well
Hope it gives you hell
He'd take down all the puny Sky Knights they could throw at him.
When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
He would give them hell. He would look down at pleading innocents with no mercy in his crimson eyes. He would give them hell.
When you hear this song and sing along
And never tell
Then you're the fool
I'm just as well
Hope it gives you hell
When you hear this song
I hope that it will give you hell
You can sing along
I hope that it puts you through hell
Everyone felt the darker desires such as him, the desires to renounce stupid, restraining moral codes and truly live life to the fullest. They all felt the same as him, but they tried to hide it, and put on the good mask. They were the fools.
And he would give them, he would give all of Atmos, hell.
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So, how do you like it? (Hint: hit the "Review Chapter/Story" Button below and tell me!)
A/N: The Dark Ace is mainly addressing all of Atmos. I'm also not trying to imply that he had any sort of relationship with Lightening Strike beyond Sky Knight/squaddie and friendship. I know that the lyrics in the song say "love," and I wanted to make a note that that's just in the song! Also, the "Sky Knight fool" being referred to is not Aerrow, it's whatever Sky Knight was considered the best of the Sky Knights before Dark Ace killed him/her. After all, the Dark Ace did defeat more Sky Knights than anyone before he fought Aerrow.
